Euskal ikasketetan graduatuaNeandertalek komunikatzeko ahozko hizkuntza erabiltzen ote zuten aztertzea izan da lan honen helburu nagusia, bai eta horren inguruko teoriak aurkeztea ere. Horretarako, lehenengo atalean neandertalen ikerketaren historia azaldu da taula batean, denboran zehar aurkitutako aztarnak kronologikoki antolatuta. Horren ostean, metodoak, aurkikuntzak eta hipotesiak denboran barrena artikulatzen joan direla ikusi eta bigarren atalean orain arteko kontsentsu zientifikoa eta eztabaidaildo nagusiak azaleratu dira. Aurrenekoak neandertalei buruzko adostasunei egiten die erreferentzia (nortzuk ziren, noiz bizi izan ziren, nolako itxura zuten edo haien bizimodua nolakoa zen) eta eztabaida-ildoetan, aldiz, ikertzaileen arteko eztabaida-gaiak aipatzen dira (espeziearen desagerpena, gainontzeko espezieekiko gurutzaketak eta hizkuntza). Horrek guztiak hizkuntzaren problematikara garamatza, eta lan honen muina den heinean, hirugarren atalean sakondu da. Hala, eztabaidaardatzak diren hiru gai garrantzizkoenak banatuta aurkeztu dira: hizkuntza bazutela iradoki lezaketen aspektu kulturalak, hizkuntza artikulatua izateko baldintza fisikoak eta azterketa genetikoaren emaitzak.GAKO-HITZAK: Neandertala • Hizkuntza • Hioidea • FOXP2.
Neanderthals and languageThe main objective of this study has been to analyse whether Neanderthals used spoken language as a mean of communication. This work is divided into three main sections. In the first one, the history of Neanderthal research is explained by the remains found, revealing them chronologically through a table. Moreover, it has been seen that the methods, discoveries and hypotheses have been articulated over time, and in the second section, the main scientific consensus and the main lines of discussion have been presented. The former refers to the consensus of the basic character of the Neanderthals (who they were, during which period did they live, how did they look like or what their life was like), and the latter discussion refers to certain issues outlined by some anthropologists and linguists (extinction of the species, crossbreeding with other species and language). All this leads to the problem of language. Even though this aspect of language is one of the main lines of discussion that should be included in this section, being the core of this work, it has been deepened in the third section. To this end, three main arguments that could prove that Neanderthals did have language are presented: the cultural aspects that might suggest the existence of language; the physical conditions for articulated language; and the results of genetic analysis.
